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“We do not need a direct appropriation to expand our level of service to local governments. Consequently, we do not have to compete with education, social services, transportation and other compelling needs for limited state resources,” Allin said. “We rely on modest contract fees that can support the staff that develop and manage the contracts.”

Brad Douglas pointed out that Georgia's State Purchasing Division “had all state-appropriated funds pulled from it, making the unit self-funded.”

“The unit creates its own funding through the collection of rebates and administrative fees placed on its statewide contracts,” Douglas explained. Impressively, the transition to a new funding mechanism was completed a full 18 months ahead of schedule.

State purchasing directors also said that hiring freezes and unfilled vacancies forced them to accelerate the adoption of strategic sourcing by consolidating multiple contracts into single procurements.

“With a statewide hiring freeze, normal attrition and a retirement incentive, we now have a skeleton crew,” Small said. “However, we are using this opportunity to reduce the number of contracts we have, requiring fewer buyers to manage fewer contracts.”

For states that are able to fill vacancies, today's labor market may create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enhance the skills and talent of the government procurement work force. In January, employers slashed nearly 600,000 jobs — the worst hemorrhaging of jobs in the United States in 34 years. Among those losing their jobs in the private sector are scores of highly talented and well-trained procurement professionals.

“The résumes coming in over the last four weeks have been remarkable,” Indiana's Wynkoop said. “The talent pool is better now than ever with procurement people leaving private-sector jobs.”

While we are still in the early days of the budget crisis that afflicts all sectors of American life, it appears that the crisis offers significant advantages for public-sector procurement managers. It has tilted the balance of power to central procurement offices and has helped catalyze cost-saving initiatives led by innovative procurement managers such as Alice Small, Brad Douglas, Charles Covington, Kent Allin and Rob Wynkoop. And while hiring freezes and cost-cutting measures have created challenges for every agency, procurement departments seem to be well-positioned to weather the storm.

David Yarkin, former deputy secretary for procurement in Pennsylvania's Department of General Services, is president of Government Sourcing Solutions, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Contact Yarkin via e-mail at dyarkin@govsourcing.com.